Notice: Takin' a break over the weekend. Next chapter will be up on either Monday or Tuesday!

Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero, Warhammer 40,000, or anything related or pertaining to those universes.

Chapter 5: A Royal Visitor

"The Exalted One offers his visions to us," a treacherous man in the center of the command room stated. His skin was sickly grey and had purple tentacles rupturing from completely random spots on his body. Most of it was covered up by his robes however, and their dark-blue color matched the rest of the fluorescent room.

It was obviously a very high tech command center of some sort. Or at least it used to be, until the warp itself enveloped it within its psychic shadow. There were five other high-ranking servants of Chaos in the room, each of them seated behind a primary console like some sort of panel. They all had their eyes on the sorcerer in the center, staring at him with the hunger for information. The man would not disappoint them.

"The Void World is slowly awakening to the presence of the operator, and is in fact dispatching some of its highest ranked members to investigate a murder of some 'nobleman'," the man spat as he held onto his chaos staff that supported his frail body.

"Murder is putting it lightly," a Champion of the Black Legion stated eagerly with a fiery voice. He was the only member of the panel that was not a follower of Tzeentch, but his armies would play a crucial role in the grand scheme. "30 square miles burned to ashes while leaving a body count of over 350 men and women. All inside of an hour. Alkazeri, where the hell did you find this guy?"

"Fate brought him to us, Champion Dignitas" the Thousand Sons sorcerer sitting next to him stated without emotion. "It's as simple as that."

"Damn. The Despoiler would especially be pleased by such a slaughter. Too bad it wasn't in his name."

The frail sorcerer in the center of the room continued on with his report. "Apparently one of these high ranking officials is the 'Princess of Tristain', and she is believed to be a key part to the prophecy."

The room grew silent as the man in the center of the panel gripped the armrests on his throne-like chair even tighter, slightly bending the metal under his strength. He was clearly much bigger than everyone else in the command center, his blue and gold armor more ancient than some of the members in the room. Lord Hexlend finally began speaking with his dark and vile voice. The sound of it alone could crush mere mortals simply from the warp energies contained in it.

"We will wait…and see…what the operative will do…with this…princess…"

The Magic Academy...

Knowledge is power. And Glacius felt immensely more powerful after speaking with Derf and interrogating Count Mott's enslaved soul all night long. When he got back from his raid he dropped Siesta's unconscious body in the medical room for the nurse to take care of in the morning, who was surprised to see the young woman back at the academy once she came back on duty in a few hours.

"And you're saying this Brimir guy is the one who basically saved the world six thousand years ago huh?" Glacius asked the sword. He probably looked like a crazy guy talking to his weapon, but he already had a reputation across the campus, and crazy was a category in that rep. Right now he was sitting outside just before the break of dawn, using a large pot full of water to clean the blood off of his armor that he stripped off. Generally it took the help of tech-priests to get the armor off and on, but he would just have to improvise. He tried in vain to get that damn scorch mark off of his shoulder plate, but it wasn't working out too well.

"Yep. The first void mage. Held back an entire invasion with Gandalfr by his side," Derf stated.

"Interesting…" Glacius muttered.

"Oh, and the Count wants to know what you're going to do with him. He keeps pestering me about it!"

Glacius sighed. "Tell him I haven't decided yet, but he will obviously be serving myself and Chaos until Tzeentch knows when."

Derf was quiet for a minute as he communicated with the spirit trapped in his body with him. "Hmmm…he says you're an A-hole partner, heh."

"Pft, he has no choice," Glacius bluntly said. He gave up on trying to clean the scorch mark off by conventional means. Maybe there was a warp spell somewhere in that book that he could learn about to get rid of it? The chaos marine began putting his plating back on before some student walked out this early for some reason and saw him.

He was now fully dressed and covered once again, all the blood from the battle last night washed off. He kicked over the pot and spilled the blood soaked water into a drainage grating nearby, washing it away into the sewer system. Glacius put Derf at his side as he walked back in to wake up his master for classes. Guiche had already taken care of the laundry and left it outside of Louise's door. Good boy.

But as Glacius entered the room, he had this nagging feeling that someone was watching him; that someone had been watching him ever since he got back last night. He took all the necessary precautions, so why was this feeling there? Oh well, it was probably nothing…maybe the daemon playing mind tricks on him. He still had to find that wretched fiend damnit.

Tabitha, a young blue-haired mage, had in fact seen almost everything. She was already highly suspicious of Louise's familiar, I mean hell, who wouldn't be? But she saw him sneaking in with Siesta's body over his shoulder, his dark blue armor completely covered in blood late at night. He must have had supernatural hearing, as when she slightly bumped into her window while watching him clean his armor from high above, his warped eyes shot straight up at her. She managed to duck in time, but something serious was up, and she was determined to find out what.

Louise was already up and waiting when Glacius opened the door to her room. The heck was this about? She was never up this early.

"Mornin' boss. You're up early," Glacius stated with a little bit of surprise. Louise immediately began questioning him.

"What can you do…that would totally impress everyone here?" she asked out of nowhere.

"Oh I dunno, breaking Guiche's brass golems was pretty cool I thought," he stated sarcastically. Before she could retort he spoke again. "Why do you ask?"

Louise sighed as she sat down on her head, her head held down. "Geez I was so careless, I completely forgot about the exhibition…"

"What exhibition?"

"It's a gathering where the second year students demonstrate the familiars they summoned to everyone at the institute…"

This was what she was stressing over? Really? "Sounds really stupid, maybe you should just skip the whole thing?" Glacius offered with his arms up.

"Second year students are required to attend!" she exclaimed. "…in any case, I just want to avoid any more embarrassment…"

Glacius could care less about his master's status or self-esteem. Unfortunately, if she commanded him…

"Anyway," Louise began as she stood up to exit the room, "we don't have time for this. I want you to think of something that you can do to impress everyone by the time my class is over."

Drat.

Outside…

Glacius was sitting outside in the shadow of the academy, hidden away in a corner from the students on the other side of the campus. Before him was the book full of warp powers, as he was looking for something that would be pretty spectacular. Ah…the opening of a small warp storm. That would give these people something to talk about for sure! The procedure was complicated as heck though.

"Arrrgh, this will take all fekkin' night, cutting into my plans for some-"

"Mr. Glacius? What are you doing down there?"

The chaos marine quickly slammed the book close, as its words alone would probably melt the faces of mere mortals who dared to peer into it. He turned over his shoulder to see Siesta approaching him, her usual maid outfit back on with that dumb smile still on her face. He noticed that she had a bandage covering part of her head where she had hit it last night. Well, at least she was conscious again.

"Just reading," he answered. "You need something?"

"No, just wanted to say hi," She was awfully cheery for what she went through last night, and it was pretty unnatural. Unless…

"Say, how did you get that bandage Siesta?" Glacius asked.

"Oh this? They said I must have fallen down the stairs last night or something, I dunno know…" Suddenly, she saw what Glacius had been looking at. "Hey! Is that the book you were telling me about from the night before?" she asked.

"Yes…"

"Ummm…can I look at it?" she pleaded. She was obviously very interested in anything regarding to Glacius, as he was quite an 'interesting' familiar.

"I don't think that's a good idea, this book is kinda…uh…scary. Yeah," he made up. However, he could see Siesta's face changing to one her saddest yet. Awwwww, how could he say no to that face? She only wanted to learn about the Ruinous Powers!

"Um, but-"

"Weeeeelll," he began slowly, "I could read it for you somewhere else, as long as you don't read the words directly from the text."

"Yea sure! Sounds fun," she said happily. "I'll stop by Louise's room later tonight then! I've got to get back to work now though, see you then!"

"Later," Glacius replied as he nodded at her and then flipped the book back open.

For the next few hours he poured over the ritual for the spell, muttering the words to himself quietly as he read through it. After a while though, his hearing began to pick up commotion on the other side of the academy. It was quiet at first, but then the rabble increased to rather uncomfortable levels. Glacius finally got annoyed enough to get up and see what all the fuss was about.

He went inside of the main building and up to the top balcony to watch from the windows, and before him was almost the entire student body and faculty, all lined up on the side of the road. He looked further down and saw a convoy of carriages approaching down the road, one of them being decorated lavishly and pulled by white horses.

"What's going on?" Glacius asked his chainsword as he hefted it up in front of him.

"Count Mott says that it's the Princess of Tristain, Lady Henrietta," Derf spoke.

"Princess huh?" the chaos marine said. He remembered the history lesson and political brief that Derf and Count Mott gave him earlier, so if he was correct then she was just the second in the chain of command for the entire nation.

"Why…is she here?" Glacius said slowly in a threatening voice. He didn't like this one bit.

"Apparently to see the exhibition, at least that's what the Count thinks," Derf said.

"Bullsh*t. You honestly think someone that high up would come all the way down here just to see some warp-filth perform magic tricks?"

"Yo that's harsh partner. And yes. This is the top school for magic on the entire globe. And you obviously don't know Princess Henrietta."

Glacius grunted as he looked further down to see the carriage doors open. "Well, we're about to get a good look at her…"

And he was shocked. The Princess looked like a little kid or perhaps a teenager. They had people that young making the decisions for their country? Either she was a hell of a lot smarter than her age showed, or this country would be easy to corrupt with the ways of Tzeentch. More than likely just a figurehead though. One thing Glacius learned over his years of combat experience was that it was always a bad idea to underestimate your opponent, so he went with the first option. His Auto-senses recorded her face and stored it in the IFF database for future reference.

He watched as the crowd grew in exhilaration as she walked forward, a big smile on her face similar to Siesta's. He spotted Louise, Guiche, and many of the other students down there, expressions of joy on their faces. Glacius had seen enough, as he had all the information he needed. Time to get back to studying…

Later that night…

Glacius had the warp storm spell down as much as he needed for now. Regular warp storms were massive, destructive forces that could annihilate whole worlds and last for centuries, but the one he learned only lasted a few seconds and would annihilate anything within a one meter radius. He had to be careful though, as all these warp spells were slowly enhancing his psychic ability, and it wouldn't be long before daemons tried to enter his mind.

Well, could they even access this world? There was a reason this place hadn't been touched by the Imperium yet, but it seemed as if some elements of Chaos had already been here in the past, as the daemon watching him was proof of that. Why weren't there any more of them? So many questions…

He was walking back towards Louise's room where he was planning on meeting Siesta so she could learn from the book. She was just plain weird; no one like her existed back in the Imperium. Well, they weren't fighting nonstop war for the past few millennia either according to Derf, so they actually had time to prosper.

Glacius slowed down as his ears began to pick up the sounds of chatter. He managed to step lightly enough that his armored boots would not be heard as he inched towards the origin of the noise. A regular person would not be able to hear the talking between the stone walls, but Glacius was intrigued mainly because he instantly recognized one of the voices as his master's. It appeared that she had a guest…but who would want to see Louise the Zero this late at night?

"Oh stop all the formalities Louise Francoise, you don't have to do that stuff with me! We've been friends since we were little girls, haven't we?" he heard the unknown voice exclaim.

What. She had friends?! Who would be friends with Louise the Zero? She certainly had enemies, but for someone to be friends with a girl with that kind of attitude, oh man. She had to be extremely forgiving, or they must have a bond that even Tzeentch would have trouble breaking. Who was this benevolent person? Louise's reply then answered that question.

"Princess, those kind words are much more than I deserve," Louise stated humbly.

"GAGH!" Glacius choked in shock. He was still far enough away that they probably didn't hear him eavesdropping, but that wasn't the problem. Louise and the princess!? What kind of coincidence was that? That his master happened to be buddy-buddy with the next in line for the throne? No it wasn't coincidence…just mere and simple fate that was weaved by the Changer of Ways. This was planned, it had to be.

His own plan formulated into his mind; the chain he would climb to total victory. Protect the master and keep her happy, and she would be more friendly and acceptable of you. Being a friend of the master meant her friends, including the princess, would accept you. And once you had the princess on your side…all it took was a little manipulation…and the whole country would be yours, bringing you one step closer to total control. Also, he would likely have even more freedom, so he could deal with that daemon, despite how quiet it had been lately. Glacius threw out that thought as he continued listening, hoping for more critical knowledge.

"Oh I've wanted to see you for so long," the princess said.

"Princess, you're crying!"

Ok…things were getting kind of weird…

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry; it's just that I've been so lonely. I really haven't had anyone to open my heart to since father passed away."

Bah, this was just emotional rabble of two friends catching up. The only useful intel he got was that the king was gone, meaning the Queen was currently in charge now. Too bad he already knew that thanks to Count Mott. He was about to turn and leave, but his ear caught more.

"There's also something else…"

"Huh?" Louise said exactly what Glacius was thinking.

"A great tragedy happened nearby, and a number of royal investigators came with me to find out what happened," the princess stated solemnly. She continued on, "You know Count Mott? Well…his whole mansion and a large area of the forest burned down last night…"

"What!? You're kidding!" Louise exclaimed.

"I wish I was, but it's true. Count Mott and his entire staff are missing too. It's believed that they were…" Henrietta's voice trailed off to the point where Glacius couldn't pick up anymore.

"Princess, did they find out who did it?"

"We…don't even know if it was a true attack. Most likely an accident with magic of some sort, but that's why the investigators are here. If it was an attack, who would do such a thing? My biggest fear…is that a war could break out…"

Glacius had heard enough. So they found the ruins, but the fire must have turned everything to ash so that there was absolutely no way they could trace it back to him. Good. He was sure that there might be a few loose ends, such as Siesta, but her memory was gone anyway so it didn't matter.

Speaking of Siesta, where was she anyway? She should have been here by now. Glacius didn't feel like waiting around though, so he just decided to do his own thing. Meh, she was probably on extra duty since the princess was visiting and the exhibition was tomorrow. The chaos marine took off to his usual spot outside to read through the book and learn some new skills.

Back at Louise's room…

"Well let's talk something not as serious Louise," the Princess of Tristain stated with a smile. "Where's your familiar? I haven't seen it yet!"

Louise sighed a bit. "Ah… well, he does what is required and then generally takes off to go do whatever…"

"Hmm," the princess muttered while looking at her old friend. "It seems like maybe you two haven't really connected yet?"

"I've tried! He keeps making fun of me though, so I've had to discipline him!"

The princess giggled at that. "Oh Louise, you've always had such a strong determination and presence. Maybe it's just a bit overbearing you know?"

Louise looked down before continuing on, "Maybe…a familiar is supposed to be its master's companion and aid them whenever they need it…"

"Haha, don't worry Louise! Just relax a bit and I'm sure things will work out between you guys. By the way, what kind of familiar did you summon? Like a fairy? Or maybe a dragon?" the princess exclaimed with excitement. Louise instantly tensed up.

"Uh…heh…heh…he's uh…different…"

"Hmm? How so?"

"Well…just wait till' tomorrow. You gotta see it to believe it…"

The next day…

"We will now begin the presentation of this year's new crop of familiars!" Professor Colbert announced. The crowd of students went wild, and the show began in earnest. It was a wild show, with fire breathing salamanders, dancing frogs, mole-things, and dragons! The princess had her own private booth and was ecstatic with the whole play, but she really couldn't wait to see what her friend Louise had in store for her.

"Next up is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière!" Colbert proclaimed. Louise and her familiar were hidden away on the side of the stage, Glacius towering over his tiny master. Louise was wondering the whole time about what the princess had said last night, about how she should be nicer to her familiar to help their bond. She watched in envy as other students had cute little animals and fluffy things, and she had…this. She finally spoke up.

"Hey, don't disappoint me now, okay?" she said in a tone that wasn't demeaning or insulting. It was more like she was asking.

Glacius raised an eyebrow at that before answering. "It'll be fine," he stated plainly, probably the biggest understatement of the year. He marched forward with his armored boots thudding, Louise following close behind as they entered the spotlight in front of all the students.

The princess knew something was up to begin with when Professor Colbert announced Louise's name, as the whole crowd grew quiet. This familiar must be quite different indeed as he already had a reputation across the campus. Heavy footsteps shook her private booth as something huge walked onto the stage, the wood creaking as it threatened to break. And then she saw it.

The familiar was a colossal man covered head to toe in armor. His plating was painted a dark blue with spikes coming out of the shoulders, giving off an extremely sinister look. As he centered himself on the stage she could see what looked like an eight-pointed star with an eye in the center over his chestpiece. His helmet was the same color as the rest of the armor, with his lenses giving off a dull, red glow. She was completely breathless, especially seeing how her friend looked like a pitiful child next to him.

"Allow me to introduce him…" she began. "This is my familiar, his name is Glacius, and his type is…" her voice trailed off as she tried to think of what category something like him would fit in. She glanced over and saw the princess who was staring in awe. Her friend summoned that?

"Chaos," Glacius finished for her, his voice voxed loud enough to carry across the campus.

"Step back," he then commanded. The crowd was already unsettled to begin with just from the sight of him, but they became even more restless when they saw his hand go for the chainsword.

Oh dear Brimir, could Louise even control this guy? One of the students in the front row fainted immediately.

Suddenly, Glacius screamed a string of strange words as he thrust his sword up, the words burning the ears of everyone who heard them. But then something strange happened.

The sword looked like it was going straight up, but the air around it became statically charged with purple lightning. Reality itself began to bend around the weapon as it broke through the realm of realspace, rupturing the barrier that held back the mass of psychic energy contained in the Immaterium. The disturbance from the atmosphere being affected by the gateway sounded like a sonic boom that went off right in everyone's face, but the absolute worst part was what their eyes recorded.

Colors that had never been seen before nor existed flashed from the opening, causing the students in the front row to collapse as their brains were overloaded with information that made no sense. The air around the weapon twisted with psychic energy in the form of blue and purple electricity that screamed and howled across the small rift. The students who weren't absolutely horrified by the glimpse into hell were gawking in sheer awe. This was a spectacle that had never even been heard of, and they were getting to witness it firsthand.

The whole thing was over in about three seconds. Glacius slowly brought the weapon down and holstered it back onto his hip, his job complete as he turned to his master.

"I don't think anyone will make fun of you," he said as he strode off of the stage. Louise had no idea what the hell just happened, as all she heard was white noise from being so close. Her eyes saw enough though, and it wasn't just the sight that shocked her, but the feeling. She felt raw emotion slamming into her during the whole demonstration, tingling her skin and leaving her nervous system in complete disarray. She stumbled off the stage behind her familiar and finally passed out away from the audience's eyes. Everyone was in complete silence, including the princess.

"That was the coolest f-ing thing I've ever seen!" a fat kid with an owl as his familiar yelled out, breaking the silence at last. The students began to snap out of it and join him, a couple of them tending to their fallen peers.

"What kind of magic was that?!"

"Louise's familiar is the man!"

"Woooooooo!"

The princess herself was not sure whether to be awed or terrified by what she had just seen. It was cool, sure, but what exactly was it? She rose from her seat to depart the booth.

"Where are you going ma'am?" one of the guards with her asked.

"I need to find Louise. Excuse me."

Other side of the school…

Glacius had Louise over his shoulder as he was walking back towards her room. She was completely knocked out from the warp storm, her brain probably trying to make sense of what just happened. The only reason he was bringing her back up was that he had to be nicer to his master, get on her good side, and then the plan would begin. However, Glacius' scheming would have to wait, as something was right around the corner. And it was huge.

The creature was made of solid stone, its body so large that it blocked out the sun completely from where he was standing. If it stretched its arms upwards it would probably be able to touch the cockpit of a Warhound- Class Titan.

"Your luck has just run out!" a voice exclaimed from high above. The stone giant threw an open palm straight at Glacius, who dodged to the side. He placed Louise on the ground as he turned back to face the golem, rage leaking from his visor and onto the golem.

"Luck doesn't exist. Only the fates that are determined for us," Glacius hissed in anger as he drew his chainsword. The chainsword began powering up as Glacius stared his opponent down, the massive creature moaning with pure hatred.

With a battle cry for Tzeentch, he charged.

To be continued…

How will a Chaos Marine stand up against a creature made of rocks? Stay tuned and find out next time!

Note: That first scene was inspired by Metalocalypse! Hexlend the Half-Man! Reading the last chapter while listening to Dethklok is pretty entertaining too, lawl